There Are Pandas, and Then There Are Pandas.
And this isn't either of them! The Pandas we're talking about here, are watches, not bears. And what got me thinking about them (again) was a link posted this morning by @cm.rook who pointed a few of us to the very attractive (and not terribly priced) Yema "Rallygraph" Panda which, in it's most traditional arrangement, looks like the one on the left, but can also be had in the version on the right: The model on the left is a true Panda, while the model on the right is called a reverse Panda. The reason for that distinction is clear--Panda bears, only come in the first arrangement. Now at this point, everyone should be thinking about the most well-know Panda, The Rolex Panda, which is actually a Daytona, and among Rolex Daytonas, the most famous of which is the Paul Newman Daytona, which was famous first, because it was Paul's, and second because it sold at auction for $17.8 million (US Dollars). The story of that auction is well-known so I'll only...
Nov 8, 2019
>What do you look for in a fountain pen? Hard to pin down exactly; I haven't really found too much of a pattern in what catches my eye, so I'll let the next answers cover that more.
>What kind of nibs do you prefer? Gold, possibly titanium. I like flex, and 14ct seems better than 18ct in nibs trying for that. XF/accountant nibs are great for showing off Mabie Todd style wet noodles, but stubs, italics, and 3-tine music nibs are cool too.
>Are there particular models and brands you like? Aurora, Pelikan (Souveran), Pilot/Namiki are modern makes I have and consider reliable; Mont Blanc, Stipula, Omas, and Marlen I have and consider a bit finicky. I'm interested in but don't yet have Lamy, Platinum, Yard-O-Led (including their pencils), Bexley, and the newer Wahl/Eversharp remakes.
That's about it off the top of my head. Prolly remember others later.